This invention relates to thermal insulating devices for beverages containers, and in particular, to a thermal insulating devices for use in connection with soft drink cans and the like. Such soft drink cans are standard in the beverage industry and are generally made of thin aluminum and have various opening arrangements such as flip tops and the like. Since soft drink beverages are generally cooled and the cans are made of a highly thermally conductive material such as aluminum, the cans generally tend to heat up quickly when placed in a warm ambient atmosphere, particularly if the cans are exposed to sunlight. Therefore, in the past, devices have been provided to insulate such beverage containers and keep them cool. These prior art devices have generally been open ended cylindrical containers into which the beverage containers could be placed. The devices were generally made of an insulating material such as styrofoam or the like, which material is rather soft and is easily deformed.
A disadvantage of these prior art devices has been that no means has been provided to close a beverage container once it has been opened. Therefore if the beverage container is left unattended, insects, dust and other foreign matter could easily enter the beverage container. This is not only unpleasant and necessitates disposal of the remainder of the beverage, but can also be dangerous because insects, such as bees or wasps, are often attracted to sweetened beverages and thereby could cause severe injury and even death if the user ingested an insect which had entered the beverage container.
Furthermore, since the top of the beverage container is not covered with an insulating material, insulation of beverage containers by such prior art insulating devices was not as effective as desired. Also, since these prior art insulating devices comprised open ended cylinders, any spillage from the beverage containers is retained in the insulating device, which is undesirable.
Still further, since, in order to provide a substantial amount of insulation, the walls of the prior art insulating devices were rather thick, the devices were rather hard to hold in one hand for many individuals. Also such prior art devices could not be attached to a person's belt so that the user had to continually carry such a prior art device or set it down, both of which may be undesirable.
Yet further, since the prior art devices were rather bulky, they created storage problems, particularly in confined spaces such as in boats, cars and the like.
Yet another disadvantage of the prior art styrofoam insulating devices was that, after continued use, the styrofoam would be sufficiently deformed so that the container would not grip the beverage container tightly, thereby causing reduced insulating effectiveness of the prior art insulating devices.